Pilings of concrete, timber, steel or composite materials are an integral structural part of marine structures, such as bridges, docks, piers and wharves. Pilings, which are driven or jetted into the ground to some determined depth, support a structure above the water's surface. For convenience of reference, the term “ground” is used herein to broadly denote any terrain suitable for supporting a piling, whether it is above water or below water, whether it is natural or man-made, and whether it is comprised sand, rocks, soil, other materials and combinations thereof.
Unfortunately, the exposure of piling makes them susceptible to degradation. Wood pilings are particularly prone to deterioration from biological infestation as well as structural damage due to overloading, impact, and abrasion. Steel pilings are prone to damage by corrosion and structural overloading and impact. Concrete pilings deteriorate chemically with time and experience structural degradation due to overloading, impact, abrasion and freeze-thaw cycling. A damaged piling typically includes a deteriorated section above or below the soil line that compromises the ability of the piling to support its intended design load.
While various encasement, wrapping and replacement techniques have emerged to repair such inevitable damage, these techniques have shortcomings. Encasement and wrapping are suitable if the damage has not seriously compromised the structural integrity of the piling. To repair more serious damage, a section of a piling may have to be replaced or the piling may have to be replaced in its entirety. However, conventional replacement techniques (e.g., techniques requiring a crane and pile driving leads) typically require dismantling a portion of the deck structure/super-structure and replacing and loading a damaged section of piling or installing and loading a new piling. Other techniques require complex arrangements of separate couplings to splice in a new pile section. No known techniques provide means for compressively loading a replacement section of pile or installing a new two-piece pile to design specifications.
As a consequence of the foregoing, there exists a longstanding need for a new and improved system and method for efficiently replacing and loading a damaged section of piling and/or installing and loading new piling. The system and method should enable replacement without dismantling the supported deck structure/super-structure. Additionally, the system should be relatively easy to use and have relatively few separate components (i.e., preferably a unitary component) to facilitate above water, splash zone and underwater application. Furthermore, the system should enable compressively loading a replacement pile to proper design specifications. Moreover, the system should work with various types of pilings of various cross-sectional shapes.
The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems and fulfilling one or more of the needs as set forth above.